Roving-clamp for spinning or twisting machines.



L. T; HOUGHTON.

ROVING CLAMP FOR SPINNING 0R TWISTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 1904.

Patented Apr. 27, 1909.

LEWIS T. HOUGHTON, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROVING-CLAMP FOR SPINNING 0R TWISTIN G MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 27, 1909.

Application filed March 25, 1904. Serial No. 199,958.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS T. HoUeHroN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Roving-Clamp for Spinning or Twisting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a construction for stopping the action of the drawing rolls of a spinning or twisting frame upon any particular roving or thread whenever the thread breaks between the drawing rolls and the spinning point.

The especial objects of this invention are to provide a construction in which the operative parts are supported entirely upon and are movable with the traverse rail; to employ drop feelers which are hung upon the rovings or threads so that the same will fall by gravity to combine the trumpet guides which are mounted on the traverse-rail with plugs longitudinally movable therein for clamping the rovi'ngs; and to construct the parts so that the clamping plug of any one feeler may be moved out of operative position, or so that the whole series of stop devices may be held inoperative so as not to interfere with the doffing of the frame.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view of sufiicient parts of a spinning or twisting machine to illustrate the application of my invention thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the parts mounted upon the traverse-rail, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the feelers and its plug, and Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a modification.

Referring to the accompanying drawing and in detail, A designates the roll-rail or part of the frame of a spinning or twisting machine. Mounted on the roll-rail A are roll-stands B which support the drawing rolls R. Movable longitudinally with respect to the drawing rolls is a traverse rail 10 which is moved back and forth during the operation of the machine.

The parts as thus far referred to may be of any of the ordinary or approved constructions, except that an iron traverse-rail is preferably'employed instead of the stick of wood which is ordinarily used.

The manner in which the trumpet guides are secured in place upon the traverse-rail is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. As shown in this figure, each of the trumpets 13 is carried by an arm extending from a fastening plate 14. The fastening plate 14 extends down on one side of the traverse-rail 10 and is clamped by a spring-clip 15. The springclip 15 is provided in one of its legs with a hinged socket .16 for supporting one of the feelers. Each of the feelers consists of a frame or piece of wire 17 having a hook or bend 18 at one end for engaging the roving or thread, and having an S-bend at an intermediate point. One horizontal leg 19 of the S- shaped bend of the wire 17 is pivoted in the socket 16 of the spring-clip 15 and the other horizontal leg 20 pivotally supports a rod or plug 21 which extends longitudinally into the trumpet guide 13 substantially along the axis thereof toward its narrow portion and cooperates therewith to clamp the roving when its feeler falls by gravity. Extending up from the S-bend of each of the feelers is an arm 22 which is provided with a ball or counterweight 23 at its upper end. These counterweights are normally supported but slightly in front of the line of the pivotal point of the feeler so that they exert comparatively little tension when resting upon the threads in normal position. Whenever a feeler dro s or moves down by gravity its counterweig t 23 operates with an increased leverage to actuate the pin or plug 21. By bending or setting the arms 22 to proper position the feelers may have any desired tension upon the threads when in normal position. In practice, the feelers are weighted so that they will swing or drop down by gravity. It is obvious, however, that as shown in Fig. 4 the feelers may be counterweighted by the weights 23 so that they will tend to rise and by pivoting the feelers on a leg 19 above the plugs or pins 21, such rising feelers may be connected to directly operate such pins or plugs. In this case the other horizontal leg 20 is located below the leg 19, and the hook 18 is modified. In the use of drop feelers, however, a further advantage arises, as the series of arms 22 constitute, in effect, an indicator, which, by means of the swinging forward of any one of the weighted arms will clearly show which ones of the rovings or threads have been stopped and require splic- 11w.

Whenever any particular roving or thread is to be spliced the stop-plug 21 therefor can be thrown out of operative position as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and this is regarded as advantageous because when the plug *2! isthrown' back it will at nterfere with free access to the guide 13. V

To hold an entir" or parts" out- 6f as y While a st naor spinnin -frame isbeing doffed a. construction i's'provided for renderin all thelfeelers inoperative. As illustrat herein; the" arms 24 are pivotally mounted in bearing piecs'25 secured on the roll-rail A. ,Connecting the arms 24 is a throwout rod 26 which may be swung forward to support the feelers, as'indicatedi by dottedline r ln the use of'roving clamps constructed according tothis invention, it willrb'e seen that operative ,partshare .mounted: upon and carried entirely by thetraverse rail so that thesaid arts will not-interfere with the lon-r gitudina movement of the rovings ort'hreads. The front ends of the feeler wires 17 project up .a short distance in front of the drawing rolls, and on this account they do not occ'u y any of the room required for turning up t e.

thread boards during the dof ling. It will alsobe "noted, that an apparatus constructed according to: this, invention may be employed without interfering with any of the ordinary spinning operations. because anyone. of the.

plugsZlmay be thrown out of operative positiofITi 01. ;he entire series'may beheld inoperative by thfisuppo'rting connections.

, I am aware that numerous changes may be 'made in practicing this invention, by those who are skilled in the art without departing from the scope thereof as expressed .in the claims. ,Ido notwish, therefore, to be lim- 7 ited to the construction Ihave herein shown and. described, but,

What Ido claim anddesireto secure by Letters Patentof the United States is :3

1., Ina rovin clamp ,for'spin'ning, or twisting machines, t e combinatlon ofa guide, a feeler and a pin or plugoperated thereby longitudinally withrespect to the guide, said pin or plugbeing pivoted so, that it can be thrown to. the other side of its pivot to give access to the guide. N

- 2. Ina roving clamp for spinning or twisting machines, the combination, of a trumpet-f guide, a pin or plug substantially parallel 5O withthe axisof: the trumpet-guide, and movable longitudinally therein, a feeler ajetuatingthe pin, and means forholding the pin out of operative position to permit piecg3. In a roving clamp for spinning or twisting machines, the combination of a longitudinally movable clamping pin, a thread guide which ,the -pin is adapted to engage,

a feeler for actuating the pin, and'means for holding the pin out of operating position to' permit piecing.

4. In ajc'onstruction of the class described,

tlieicombinat ion of a, set of feelers, a clamp operated by each of said feelers, and a release" bar of rod movable to engagethe under sides of the feelers to hold the entire series of clamps in inoperative position when desired.

5. In aconstruction of the class described, the combination of trumpet guides, a pin or plug arranged substantially parallel with 'the axis of each trumpet guide and movable longitudinally therein, a feeler for each of the trumpet guides, and a release bar or frame rmounted to be swung intoengagement with the feelers and to hold the same inoperative when desired.

. 6. In a roving clamp for spinning or twisting machines, the combination of a trumpet-guide, a pin or plug substantially parallel with the axis of the trumpet-guide and movable longitudinally therein" to clamp the roving independently of the drawing rolls,

7 and a' feeler foractuating the pin.

7. In a roving clamp for spinning or twiste mg machlnes, the com'blnatlon of a uide of a trumpet shape, and a movable clamping pin mounted to move substantially along the axis of the uide toward the narrowportion thereof to clamp a thread inthe guide.

8. In a roving clamp for spinning or twisting machines, the combination of a guide of a trumpet shape, a clamping. pin mounted to move substantially along the axis of said guide toward thenarrowportion thereof to clamp a threadin the guid'e,"and a pivotally mounted wire having means on one end for engaging the roving and ail-indicator on the other to show when said clamping pin is in clamping position, said clamping pin be- 1 ing supported and operated by said wire.

9. In a roving clamp for spinning or twistmounted, tofmove substantially along the axis of the guide to clamp the roving in the narrow portion thereof, and a pivotally mounted frame having an arm .on which said pin vvis pivotally mounted, said arm being parallel with the axis on which the frame is pivoted, an arm extending inwardly from said first named arm and having an indicator thereon located above .the drawing rolls ing'machines, the combination with a guide 7 r 0f a trumpet shape, ,of a clamping pin 

